The present invention relates to multiple-disc filters, and particularly to the construction of the discs used in such filters.
Multiple-disc filters are gaining wide spread use in a large number of applications, for example in water irrigation systems for removing foreign particles which may clog the water irrigation devices. Such filters include a stack of filter discs in which the side faces of each pair of adjacent discs are formed with ribs defining filtering passageways between them. The present invention is particularly applicable to the multiple-disc filter construction illustrated in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,661,250 and 4,592,839, in which the ribs of one face of each pair of adjacent discs are of a first configuration, and the ribs on the other face of each pair of adjacent discs are of a second configuration and contact the first configuration ribs of the next adjacent disc such that the filter passageways between each pair of adjacent discs are of a size determined by the height of the second configuration ribs. In the preferred embodiment described in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,250, the first configuration ribs are of sinuous shape, and the second configuration ribs are of annular shape. It has been found that filters of such a construction have a low sensitivity to clogging by dirt particles, may be more effectively cleaned in a quick and simple manner, and have an increased dirt-removing and dirt-holding capacity, as compared to conventional multiple-disc filters.